Jellyfish Barge – Solar-Powered Greenhouse

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There are many concerns about access to farmland, the shrinking available farmland space in many areas, and the impact on food security. Some are talking about a risk of a global food crisis. In response to this, a team got together and built the Jellyfish Barge, using skills of architects and botanists to give life to this hyroponic floating greenhouse.

Designed by Antionio Girardiand Cristiana Favretto of Studiomobile architects, this barge is made from recycled materials and wood as another wonderful ecological solution. This is ideal for areas that are at risk of food scarcity, and is an easy to build and inexpensive solution that maximizes the use of solar energy for plant growth.

The Jellyfish Barge is made up of an octagonal greenhouse, made with low cost materials. The base is only 750 square feet that is placed atop 96 recycled plastic drums. This design is made to be easily adapted to various environmental challenges, with a low cost design and planned for long term use. The small square footage is able to be expanded if needed, but as it was designed it is able to grow food enough to support two families. As it is modular, more modules can be added to support a larger population.

Another advantage of the Barge is that as it floats on water, it is a fairly obvious solution to grow the plants hydroponically. The Jellyfish Barge is set up to be remotely controlled and automated for ease of care. The hydroponic system needs clean fresh water, for which Paolo Franceschetti designed stills to clean the water through solar energy. The plans use seven stills to suck up water via fans and pumps, purify the water and send it to where it needs to go to water the plants. The design is able to make 150 liters each day of good, clean water from polluted waters or even sea water. To meet the plant needs the barge will use the cleaned water and 15% sea water to provide moisture to the growing crops.

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